Crushing machine



March 1, 1966 M. DAVIS, JR 3,231,554

CRUSHING MACHINE Filed Aug. 5, 1964 2 Sheets-$11991. 1

INVENTOR. CHARLES M. DAVIS.,JR.

March 1, 1966 c. M. DAVIS, JR

cnusmue MACHINE 2. Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 5, 1964 Fig.3

INVENTOR- CHARLES M. DAVIS, JR.

Fig.4

United States Patent 3,237,554 CRUSHIIIG MACHINE Charles M. Davis, Jr.,1345 S. 27th St., National City, Calif. Filed Aug. 3, 1964, Ser. No.386,990 Claims. (Cl. 100-218) The present invention relates generally toa mobile crushing machine and more particularly to such a machine whichis especially adapted to compress a pair of wornout automobile bodiesinto a loosely compacted slab.

Bodies of worn-out and wrecked automobiles, from which the wheels andmotor have been removed, provide -a prime source of scrap metal. It isusual to compact these bodies in stationary baling presses to formtightly compressed bales for transportation to the steel mill to beremelted. However these bales contain a large percentage ofcontaminating material and are therefore becoming more and moreundesirable for direct use in open hearth or electric furnaces. Thelatest method of processing automobile scrap requires a shredder orpulverizer which tears the material into small pieces and separates 99percent of all contaminating material leaving a highly desirable form ofscrap. Obviously a tightly compressed bale would be very dilficult toprocess in this manner.

It is, therefore, the primary object of this invention to provide animproved crushing machine which will control the degree of compaction ofworn-out automobile bodies.

It is a further object of this invention to provide an improved crushingmachine which will utilize a freely falling weight to exert the crushingforce.

It is a still further object of this invention to provide an improvedcrushing machine having means associated therewith by which thecompacted slab may be removed from the machine by a standard fork-lifttruck.

Finally, it is an object to provide a crushing machine of theaforementioned character which is simple and convenient to use and whichwill give generally efficient and durable service.

With these and other objects definitely in view, this invention consistsin the novel construction, combination and arrangement of elements andportions, as will be hereinafter fully described in the specification,particularly pointed out in the claims, and illustrated in the drawingswhich form a material part of this disclosure, and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation of the complete machine showing the actionof the weight member;

FIGURE 2 is a top plan view;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged section on the line 2-2 of FIGURE 2; and

FIGURE 4 is a section on the line 4-4 of FIGURE 3 but with the weightmember and pick up frame lowered.

Referring now more specifically to the drawings, wherein like parts aredesignated by the same numerals throughout the various figures, there isrepresented an embodiment of the invention wherein the machine isincorporated in a trailer 20 which is connected to a tractor 22 by afifth wheel 24 in a manner well known in the art. It will be understood,however, that the hereinafter described platform and walled body are notnecessarily combined with a wheel assembly. Such a mounting of themachine represents a very desirable embodiment of "ice the invention andthe succeeding description is drawn to this embodiment as exemplary.

Trailer 20 is provided with a platform 26 and, extending rearwardlytherefrom, a body portion formed by a front wall 28, extendingdownwardly from platform 26, a rear wall 30 opposite side walls 32 and34 respectively, and a depressed floor 36. The top of the end wall 30and side wall 34 is coextensive and extends substantially above thelevel of the platform 26 as shown in FIGURE 1. The depressed bodyportion or floor 36 is formed of high impact strength metal and isheavily reinforced for a purpose that will be hereinafter described.Trailer 20 is supported at its rear end by the usual wheel assembly 38.

Side walls 32 and 34 extend forwardly of front wall 28 and terminate inupwardly extending support arms 40 and 42 respectively. An invertedchannel member 44 extends between and is supported by arms 40 and 42.

The crushing force required to reduce automobile bodies to the propersize slab for shipment is generated by a falling weight member 46, oneend 48 of which is pivotally mounted on rod 50. Any suitable means maybe provided for supporting rod 50 in spaced relation to the platform 26.As here shown the rod 50 is secured in support arms 40 and 42respectively. It should be noted that rod 50 is mounted a substantialdistance forward of the front wall 28 for a purpose that will behereinafter explained.

Also pivotally mounted on rod 50 is a lifting arm or pick up frameindicated generally by the reference numeral 51 here shown as agenerally V-shaped member having diverging arms 52 and 54, the spacedends of which are journalled as at 56 and 58 respectively on the rod 50.A brace member 60 is secured to arms 52 and 54 adjacent the oppositeends thereof. This brace member forms, with the adjacent portion of arms52 and 54, a support for a multiple groove sheave member 62.

A releasable latch member is provided on weight member 46 for connectionwith a plate 64 rigidly connected to the free end of the pick up frame.This latch member consists of a hook 66 pivotally mounted at 68 toweight member 46. Hook 66 is normally urged into engagement with plate64 by a compression spring 70 mounted in a suitable manner between hook66 and an abutment member 72 secured to the weight member 46. Actuationof the hook member 66 is effected, according to well known techniques,by the double acting hydraulic cylinder 74. While I have shown ahydraulically actuated latch member, it is to be understood that otherforms of latching means, either mechanical or electrical, can besubstituted therefor without departing from the scope of this invention.

Any suitable means may be utilized to raise the weight member 46 intooperative position. The means shown consists of a motor 75 driving awinch 76 which has a drum 78 upon which is wound cable 80. This cablepasses several times over sheave 82 which is fixed to support 44 andsheave 62 according to well known techniques. As will be evident tothose skilled in the art, rotation of the drum 78 will effect ashortening of cable 80 to elevate weight member 46 from a horizontalposition to the position shown in solid lines in FIGURE 3.

Operation The operation of the improved crushing machine will be evidentfrom the above description taken in connection with the drawings. Withthe weight member 46 in the elevated position, shown in solid lines inFIGURE 1, body B of an automobile, the engine and wheels having beenpreviously removed, is loaded into the recessed portion of the trailerby any suitable lifting means. Hook 66 is now released from engagementwith plate member 64 through actuation of the hydraulic operator 74.This frees the weight member from engagement with the pick up arm 51 andit is free to drop in an are about rod 50 as indicated by the arrows 84,FIGURES 1 and 3. Weight member 46 will continue to fall until it hasreached a substantially horizontal position, as clearly shown by thebroken lines in FIGURE 3. The force thus generated will crush the body Bto the level of the platform 26. Pick up arm 51 is now lowered by winchmechanism 76 and latch 66 re-engaged with plate 64. Winch mechanism 76is now actuated to raise the weight member to the full line position anda second automobile body is placed on top of the one that is partiallycrushed. Weight member 46 is dropped a second time, crushing the secondbody. This step will also force pieces of metal from each body at thejunction of the two bodies to interlock so that the two bodies form anintegral slab and may be handled as a unit. Slots 36 may, if desired, beprovided in side wall 34 to permit insertion of the tines of aconventional fork-lift truck 88 for removal of the slab from thetrailer. If desired, a manually operated safety lock 90 of any suitableconstruction may be applied to weight member 46 to lock it to supportarm 42 during loading of the trailer unit. As illustrated this safetylock is a transverse lock pin 92 inserted through a hole in the lockflange 90 and registering holes in ears 94 on the top of the support arm42.

Although any number of bodies may be crushed at one time by varying thetrailer dimensions, I have found that by forming a slab of two bodiesthe proper density can be maintained so that the slab can be fed throughthe shredder at the most efficient speed. With the trailer hereindisclosed, the length of the weight member is approximately 22 feet andthe weight approximately 16,000 pounds. When in horizontal position, theweight member extends substantially to the end wall 30 and fits withslight clearance between the side walls 32 and 34. The side walls 32 and34 and end wall 30 extend approximately four feet above the level of thefloor 36 of the recessed portion of the trailer. I have also found thatthe finished slab when composed of two bodies should be approximately 20inches thick. To-accomplish this the floor 36 'is dropped a distance of20 inches below the platform 26. The above dimensions may obviously bechanged if it is desired to form a slab of three or more bodies andstill maintain the desired density in the finished slab.

It is understood that minor variations from the form of the inventiondisclosed herein-may be made without departure from the spirit and scopeof the invention, and that the specification and drawings are to beconsidered as merely illustrative rather than limiting.

I claim:

1. A crushing machine comprising:

a body having a platform and a depressed portion having side walls;

an elongated weight member;

pivot means adjacent one end of said depressed portion and connectingsaid weight member to said platform; and

hoisting means for pivotally raising said weight member above saiddepressed portion to a predetermined height about said pivot meansincluding means for disengaging said weight member from said hoistingmeans whereby, upon disengagement, downward movement of said weightmember will compress material in said recessed portion, said hoistingmeans including a pick-up frame pivotally mounted on said body, a winchmounted on said body with a hoisting cable operatively connected to saidWinch and said pick-up frame.

2. The structure of claim 1 further including slots in one side wallwhereby the tines of a fork lift truck may be inserted to remove thecrushed material.

3. The structure of claim 1 in which said means for disengaging saidweight member includes a latch member carried by said weight member andadapted to releasably engage said pick up frame.

4. The structure of claim 3 further including a doubleacting hydraulicmotor for actuating said latch member and a spring normally forcing saidlatch member into engagement with said pick up frame.

5. The structure of claim 4 further including a safety lock between saidweight member and body to secure said weight member in raised position.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 113,900 4/1871Marshall -265 X 543,302 7/1896 Horton 72440 937,436 10/1909 Haag.2,529,892 11/1950 Adams. 2,616,312 11/1952 Jones et al 100-233 X2,986,992 6/1961 Patros et a1 100-218 3,036,516 5/1962 Purcell 100265 XFOREIGN PATENTS 415,169 8/1934 Great Britain.

IRVING BUNEVICH, Primary Examiner.

BILLY J. WILHITE, Examiner.

1. A CRUSHING MACHINE COMPRISING: A BODY HAVING A PLATFORM AND A DEPRESSED PORTION HAVING SIDE WALLS; AN ELONGATED WEIGHT MEMBER; PIVOT MEANS ADJACENT ONE END OF SAID DEPRESSED PORTION AND CONNECTING SAID WEIGHT MEMBER TO SAID PLATFORM; AND HOISTING MEANS FOR PIVOTALLY RAISING SAID WEIGHT MEMBER ABOVE SAID DEPRESSED PORTION TO A PREDETERMINED HEIGHT ABOUT SAID PIVOT MEANS INCLUDING MEANS FOR DISENGAGING SAID WEIGHT MEMBER FROM SAID HOISTING MEANS WHEREBY, UPON DISENGAGEMENT, DOWNWARD MOVEMENT OF SAID WEIGHT MEMBER WILL COMPRESS MATERIAL IN SAID RECESSED PORTION, SAID HOISTING MEANS INCLUDING A PICK-UP FRAME PIVOTALLY MOUNTED ON SAID BODY, A WINCH MOUNTED ON SAID BODY WITH A HOISTING CABLE OPERATIVELY CONNECTED TO SAID BODY WINCH AND SAID PICK-UP FRAME. 